


Escapade

by Shadaras



Category: Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Gen, Master & Padawan Relationship(s), Padawan Anakin Skywalker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-09
Updated: 2019-08-09
Packaged: 2020-08-13 22:13:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20181553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadaras/pseuds/Shadaras
Summary: Obi-Wan helps Anakin rescue himself from hawk-bats beneath the Jedi Temple.





	Escapade

**Author's Note:**

  * For [shanlyrical](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shanlyrical/gifts).

_Master!_

Anakin’s call rang through the Force, strong and steady despite the obvious fear. Obi-Wan frowned, deflected a training drone’s bolt, and tugged against the padawan bond. It felt stretched, and the ripple of power through it took longer than Obi-Wan thought it should; wherever Anakin was, he felt farther away than anywhere in the Temple. With a wave of his hand, Obi-Wan deactivated the training droids he’d been practicing with before they could take advantage of his distraction and leave him covered in stinging welts.

_What’s happening, Anakin?_ Obi-Wan asked, settling into the Force. _Where are you?_

Guilt stuck to Anakin’s mental voice, heavy as molasses, almost drowning the words. _Beneath the Temple. Hawk-bats!_

“Why are you—” Obi-Wan shook his head. Asking his padawan that question was useless, and would just increase the guilt. He knew the other children were uncomfortable around Anakin, but he hadn’t expected it to drive Anakin out of the Temple entirely. Instead, he reached out, trying to project reassurance as strongly as he could. _Keep our bond open, Anakin. I’ll come help you._

Relief and gratitude washed over him, though it didn’t quite cleanse the guilt. Obi-Wan let out his breath, trying to hide his anxiety from Anakin. Instead, he opened himself to the Force, letting it guide his steps through the Temple. He’d done his fair share of exploring the secrets of the Temple as a youngling and padawan, but Anakin had a gift for finding places nobody else knew about—and then getting into trouble because of it. Admittedly, over the two years he’d been in the Temple, he’d steadily gotten better at staying out of trouble—though Obi-Wan suspected that was more because he’d learned better ways to hide it than because he’d outright stopped _finding_ it.

The Force led Obi-Wan down to the lowest level of the Temple, and then out near the speeder docks. Even without the Force’s quiet feeling of propriety urging him onwards, this would have been Obi-Wan’s first guess for where to find Anakin. Obi-Wan himself might not _like_ flying, but he’d spent plenty of time down here gaining Anakin’s respect and trust by letting the boy teach him tricks and helping him more easily access his Force-guided instincts to discover new ones in exchange.

He crouched at the edge of the dock, eyeing the service ladder, and sighed. It was lucky that nobody had yet told Anakin of what Obi-Wan had gotten up to as a youngling, he thought as he swung himself onto the ladder and slid downward, confident in the Force’s ability to stop him at the proper time. He bounded off it in a backflip that brought him to an almost invisible ledge, right next to a vent for one of the massive buildings beside the Temple.

_What were you doing in an air vent?_ Obi-Wan asked as he ducked inside, not expecting a response.

A flickering image came through the Force: A crashed speeder, Anakin tumbling out of it. Obi-Wan sighed, but managed to keep that from resonating through the bond. Instead, he pushed security down the bond and said, _I’m almost there._

Anakin would have been able to walk upright; he had filled out, now that he was getting plenty of food, but his growth spurt should still be another few years away. Obi-Wan had to crouch or crawl, and as the padawan bond strengthened and he heard the croaking screeches of hawk-bats, he decided speed was the better part of valor and dealt with how crouching meant his head banged against the ceiling periodically.

Obi-Wan let his eyes fall half-closed, looking through the Force instead of the dim light. Now, the heartbeats of every living being glowed in his sight. Carefully, he reached out to the flutter-quick bodies of the hawk-bat swarm Anakin had accidentally stumbled into, and filled them with the old memory of being hunted by giant lizards. Then, he opened his mouth, and let out a scream of his own, letting them think the sound was what frightened them.

The sun-bright pulse that meant _Anakin_ flickered with fear, and then calmed as he reached out and felt the source of the sound. Obi-Wan grinned as he scuffled closer and heard another scream and a wild push through the Force. Anakin had picked up on his strategy quite well. The hawk-bats were scattering as they realised that this wasn’t an easy source of food; Obi-Wan suspected that only Anakin’s initial panic had let them think that the boy might be prey at all.

By the time Obi-Wan reached him, Anakin was standing tall and yelling at the final fluttering wings of the hawk-bat flock. He turned at the sound of Obi-Wan’s footsteps, face covered with smudges of dirt but his smile clear despite that. “I did it, Master!”

Obi-Wan laughed. “You sure did!” He sat back on his heels and considered his padawan, the crashed speeder he was certain had been built out of scrap, and the hole in the heating vent. “I’m glad you didn’t need me to rescue you after all.”

“You helped,” Anakin said. He looked down, sheepish. “I wasn’t expecting them.”

“I wouldn’t have expected them either,” Obi-Wan said cheerfully. “Especially not if I was paying more attention to making sure my speeder held together. I think you needed another few bolts on that thing.”

Anakin scowled, and Obi-Wan thought he might see a faint blush underneath the dirt and grease. “I wasn’t going to take it _far_, master; I thought it was okay for just a quick circle.”

Obi-Wan sighed, and accepted that he couldn’t have any more dignity, and crawled next to Anakin, placing a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “And now you know for next time.”

“Next time?” Anakin perked up, meeting his eyes with more excitement than he ever showed about Temple lessons.

“Next time,” Obi-Wan repeated. “Which will happen after you repair this mess and get a licensed technician to agree that it’s ready for flying, instead of trusting your instincts. They’re very good instincts, but you still need to hone them with experience.”

“Yes, master,” Anakin said. The subdued tone lasted for just a moment before he got fidgety again and said, incredibly sheepishly, “Master?”

“Yes?”

“Could you— I mean, I’m not good enough yet to—”

Obi-Wan waited patiently, keeping his expression under control with long practice as Anakin fumbled his way through to asking for help. It was adorable, and also sad, because asking for help was something the Temple liked teaching its younglings, and Anakin had missed out on the experience almost entirely.

Finally, Anakin mumbled out, “I can’t lift the speeder but I’d like it if you could use the Force to get it back to the Temple.”

“Of course, Anakin.” Obi-Wan ruffled his padawan’s hair, smiling gently at the face Anakin made. “That’s what masters are for. To help padawans with things they aren’t ready to do on their own yet.”

“I know, master,” Anakin said, and Obi-Wan thought he almost leaned into his hand for a moment before pulling away. “I just— I wish I could do it myself already.”

“If we were in a training room, I know you could.” Obi-Wan stood up in the hole the speeder had made. “But you’ve just had an unusual experience, and concentration is harder after such a thing.” He looked at the speeder, the hole, and the Temple up above. “Do you think you could get a Temple speeder and find your way back here?” he asked. Anakin needed something to do that would help. “I think I’ll need to tow it behind a working speeder to bring it home.”

Anakin nodded vigorously and darted off, his earlier fear entirely forgotten.

Obi-Wan watched him with a smile and thought, _I’m trying my best, Qui-Gon, and I’m starting to think it might be good enough._


End file.
